The Sadducees

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The Sadducees and their role in Jewish society The Sadducees were the elite members of Jewish society such as priests, officials, and Levites. These Sadducees took their name from Zadok, a priest during the reign of king David or Solomon. The Sadducees, who opposed the Pharisees and their views, were mainly a political group and not a religious one. Standing firm for scripture as the single jurisdiction for their faith, the Sadducees were scriptural zealots and conservatives, who only used the five books of Moses.

Although oral tradition had been an important part of Judaism, the Sadducees did consider it to be consequential. Though the Essenes gave many privileges and much respect to their elders, the Sadducees did not. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection of the dead or angels. The Sadducees were strong believers in free will. Sometimes having very rough enforcement for villains, the Sadducees were exact about the keeping of the law.

An " eye for an eye" was taken literally while the law was executed, but currency was accepted to compensate for the wrongdoing.

Since the Sadducees were the wealthiest group in the Jewish society and had a small hierarchy system, they were small in numbers and controlled most of the political power in Israel. Holding the highest offices in Israel and doing whatever they could to keep their wealthy positions, the Sadducees were bound with the temple and would cooperate with the Romans for the good of Israel since they were very greedy and. Since the Sadducees were rationalists and were very self-centered, some had a strong lack of faith. They were also extremely ignorant. Except for the Romans, the Sadducees would not listen to any foreign influence or advice and listened to only what they wanted to hear, therefore, many people were rejected from the tightly knit circle of their precious group.